


Plus One, Plus Three

by Talonfeather (Maysun)



Series: Papa and 'adad [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe- Durins Live, Alternate Universe- Magic Is More Common, And Hobbits are full if surprises, Dwarven Gender Is Fun, F/F, Fix-It, Gen, In which Bilbo is starting to impress Dis, M/M, POV Bilbo Baggins, Papa and 'adad Series, Sansûkh Fanon, Thilbo, bagginshield, established relationships - Freeform, to the surprise of no one ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 21:26:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5555939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maysun/pseuds/Talonfeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Bilbo starts to impress Dis, Bilbo is impressed by his own race and gains a new headache in the process, Bombur gets the best present Bilbo could give, and secrets are pulled into the light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plus One, Plus Three

   Looking back Bilbo was never quite sure how it had started, but he was fairly certain that Hamfast and Bombur sharing their favorite potato recipes had something to do with it. (“You can boil em, mash em, stick em in stews! Well that's what da always said anyway. Not a particular fan of a boiled potato myself.”) All Bilbo knew was that one moment he was discussing the finer points of packing his things with Lady Dis and Warrior Orla, and the next thing he knew there was a swift knock on his door and a Postman delivering a summons from the Thain to visit him in Tuckborough, and would he please invite the Lady Dis along as well? 

   "Honestly," Bilbo said, his lips pulled thin in a frown. "He could have addressed me as a cousin at least."

   "Your Thain is...a leader of your people," Dis asked after a moment, as Bilbo stopped his packing to mull over the summons. 

   "Well, the Thain is always the eldest of the Took family, of which my mother was one by the by, which is how we are cousins. And the Thain is in charge of the Shire Muster, in harder times. There hasn't been need of one in oh...ages. Since the Fell Winter I suppose."

   "So the Thain is only a military leader, when needed, then otherwise a formality?" Orla said, who had said so little during their visit that Bilbo startled a bit every time they spoke. 

   "Ah, well yes, close enough," Bilbo said, still staring at the letter with narrowed eyes, "I believe he is summoning me as a relation, more than as the Thain. But if that were true I should hope he would have addressed this differently as I am also a Head of Family, and Lady Dis is Royalty herself, no matter who he writes as."

   "Had this Thain offered insult to the Lady-," Warrior Orla said again, their voice sharp enough that Bilbo looked up suddenly and waved off their concern.

   "No-no," he said with a sigh, then stood and straightened his waistcoat, "No he was properly formal and polite. I doubt he has been properly informed of your station Lady Dis, is all. I'm afraid the politicking of the world outside of the Shire is a mystery to most Hobbits."

   "As are the politics of Hobbits to the wider world," Dis said, still frowning slightly, "I find myself lacking in experience in this situation, which is not something I am accustomed to feeling Master Baggins."  
Bilbo met her gaze with a steady look of his own. As if it were his fault she knew so little of Hobbit Manners. Well, for all she was Thorin's sister, and the Aunt to his son (His Son!), it felt good to feel a bit ahead of her in this moment.

   "We'll visit for supper tonight, that's proper enough and we have enough time to prepare yet still," Bilbo tapped the fabric of his pocket in a nervous habit and looked over the two dwarves staring at him appraisingly. "Am I correct in my thought that you're going to accompany us Warrior Orla?"

   "Aye, where Lady Dis goes, I follow," Warrior Orla said, eyes narrowed, their shoulders tenser than a moment before.

   "Master Baggins-," Dis started, a warning edge to her voice so sharp that Bilbo suddenly wished she had been at the retaking of Erebor to talk some sense into her brother. The thought made his chest ached fiercely for a moment.

   "Lady Dis I truly mean no disrespect for you, or for you Warrior Orla, but Hobbit traditions vary greatly from Dwarven ones, and I wish to advise you the best I can for this visit. I have an odd feeling about it. I can only help if I understand myself. And I think I do, but I rather ask plainly and be sure, than think I know the truth of it, be wrong, and embarrass us all three." The two Dwarves look at him, share a look with each other and seem to have one of those conversations that speak volumes in just a gesture. 

   "I still don't have the measure of you," Said Lady Dis. The 'tread carefully here' hung silent in the air between them.  
Bilbo nodded and looked at Orla. 

   "I have had a bit of a basic understanding of how Dwarven understanding of gender and romance differs than Hobbits," He started, then glanced at Lady Dis, "Thorin explained a bit as our relationship...developed."

   "You have been addressing me properly," Orla said, with a grudging nod and a 'you have to admit that much' glance to Dis.

   "So yes, I know the basics," Bilbo said, patting at his pocket again.

   "Is this going to be a formal occasion then Master Baggins? Should I be attending as Lady Dis, Princess of Erebor and not Lady Dis, aunt to your son?" Dis interrupted his thoughts and locked eyes with him. Bilbo tried to convince himself he looked away to think, and not because she intimidated him. 

   "I honestly don't know," he huffed and sat down on the bench again. He was at a loss for words for quite a while. The tone of the letter had thrown him off and he honestly wasn't sure of the next step forward. In times like these he missed his father dearly. Bungo had been a master of Hobbit Politicking. 

   Luckily there was a knock at the door, saving him from the silence and expectant gazes of the two Dwarves. 

   "Coming, Coming," He called. Making his way over to the door Bilbo wasn't terribly surprised to find Hamfast and Bombur on the other side of it. He had thought he had finally convinced the other Hobbit, his closest friend in the Shire, that he really didn't need to knock but enter like family. The arrival of the group of Dwarves seemed to have put him back in the mind that his friendship with Bilbo was 'just too much for a simple gardener'.

   "Come in you two," Bilbo said, ushering them both into the dining room where he had left Dis and Orla. "We were just discussing this summons I received from the Thain." He said the last with a pointed look at Hamfast, who gulped visibly, and saw out of the corner of his eye Bombur whispering to the others. 

   "That a-, that is I," Hamfast started to speak before slamming his jaw shut as 4 sets of eyes squared in on him.

   "It's alright Hamfast, my dear friend," Bilbo said, handing him a scone from off the table and patting his shoulder. "I suppose I really ought to speak to my family before I leave, and settle things so Lobelia can't take Bag End from you after I leave."

   "Well she can have it because I'm going with you!" The words were out of the other Hobbit's mouth so quickly Bilbo nearly didn't catch them.

   "I'm sorry, what?" Bilbo said, blinking.

   "I've been talking with Master Bombur here all morning and have it quite arranged already. There is nothing you can say to make me change my mind. I am moving with you to Erebor," Hamfast paused to breath, look to Bombur a moment, then back to Bilbo "Or at least to Dale. I think I'll be needed there the most. In fact I'm sure of it."  
Bilbo looked from Hamfast to Bombur, who nodded sheepishly, to Lady Dis, who was looking between them all with narrowed eyes.

   "And just why do you think you will be needed in Dale Master-," she started.

   "Mister Gamgee, if it pleases you Lady," Hamfast interrupted, and continued in a rush of breath again "I'm no gentlehobbit. I grow food for a living, and I'm damn good at it too. You've tasted Bilbo's cooking? Well it wouldn't be half as good without my produce. Apologies Bilbo, but it's only the truth."

   The decisive nod at the end, and the joy of his dearest friend moving with him, Bilbo couldn't help but laugh in delight.

   "My dearest Hamfast I should be delighted to have you with me! Do not doubt it, but are you sure? I don't doubt you could come back with some trader or another if you really wanted, but it would take time. The journey to even get there will take up the better half of a year."

   "I'm not just going for you Bilbo," Hamfast said, then looked at the Dwarves that surrounded them. His hands wrung but he continued "I feel...Called."

   "Called to wha-Oooh." Bilbo paused, and then something clicked into place "Oh. I think I see this clearly now. Could you give us a moment? Hobbits, like Dwarves, have our secrets."

   The three Dwarves gave him varying degrees of surprised look, and Dis looked outright suspicious, but said nothing as Bilbo led Hamfast into the sitting room.

 

   "Erebor calls to you? Or Dale, as you said," Bilbo asked as they sat facing one another on matching wooden stools. 

   "Something does," Hamfast sighed, tension melted from his shoulders as they sat. "I didn't feel it until some time after you disappeared last year. One night I had this terrible dream, don't remember any of it, but it woke me and ever since then I can't shake the feeling that I'm...Needed. I was about to see if The Took could offer a solution when you showed back up and told me that tale with the dragon. And the desolation. And the people of Dale." Hamfast shivered and Bilbo placed a hand on his arm. "It didn't really sink in until I was talking with Master Bombur and he told me you were leaving. For good this time."

   Bilbo winced. He had wanted to tell Hamfast himself, but word had gotten out before he'd had the chance. 

   "Never expected to feel a Call myself," Hamfast muttered into the silence that stretched between them. "Must have Took or Brandybuck closer to our line than I thought."

   "Any Hobbit can feel a Call," Bilbo said with a sigh and leaned on his desk. "Of course I'll be delighted to have your company, as I said. But I can't help but worry it will be hard on you."

   "Certainly not as hard as it was for you," Hamfast said, poking Bilbo's hand off his arm with a wink. "I dearly hope we won't have to deal with any Trolls or Orcs or anything else you forgot to mention."

   "I should think not!" Bilbo agreed, and stood. "Well there's no helping it. Maybe you should join me for supper with the Thain this evening."

   "I well I don't think that-," Hamfast stammered.

   "Please?" Bilbo said, letting some of his anxiety at the situation shone through and tried not to grin when he saw his friend cave.

   "I suppose he shouldn't notice with all the rest of you lot about," Hamfast said, referencing the old joke that there was no family in all the Shire that could match the Tooks for shear amount of faunts running about at any given time.

   "My lot? I'm a Baggins, not a Took!" Bilbo poked his friend in the ribs as they walked back into the dining room to see three tense looking Dwarves watching their entrance intently.

 

   "Well?" Dis said, her eyes narrowed dangerously, although Bilbo couldn't fathom why. Surely they understood the idea of secrecy? As he knew they had many of their own.

   "If it doesn't cause too very much trouble Hamfast really ought to come with us," Bilbo said, trying and failing to find a way to voice why without saying too much. "I'm afraid I can't tell you why, though, but it does have to do with the rebuilding of the lands around Erebor. I have good reason to think Hamfast will be most helpful. A very good reason."

   "If you say so," Dis said, looking not at him, or Hamfast, but outright glaring at Bombur who, Bilbo was delighted to see, simply wink in his direction. 

\----

   That evening saw three dwarves and two Hobbits making their way from Hobbiton to the halls of Tuckborough in various states of ease. Lady Dis and Warrior Orla were conversing in quiet tones at the tail of the small group. Occasionally one would look up, as if to make sure they were still all together, but then would return to the conversation. Hamfast and Bombur were locked in their own debate on some sort of vegetable preparation and Bilbo rather thought that Bombur was trying to distract his friend. Bilbo himself was as tense as anything, constantly patting the pocket of his waist-coat as if to remind himself it was still there, and with no conversation to distract him he found all he could think of was how much he wanted to be on the road to Erebor already and that much closer to meeting his son and seeing Thorin again. And the rest of the Company as well, of course.

   As they approached one of his many younger cousins ushered them inside before Bilbo could even get a good look at who it was. 

   Supper passed in much the same whirlwind of confusion. Apparently they were late and the meal had started without them. Relegated to seats at the end of a long table Bilbo watched fondly over a meal that reminded him very much of when a company of Dwarves invaded Bag End and changed his life. He couldn't help but grin madly at Bombur for a moment. He had missed the noise, somehow, and it was starting to sink in that he was that much closer to getting back to his Dwarves. If he avoided looking at Fortinbras and the head of the table the entire time, well, no one said anything about it. 

   After everyone was filled to the brim with seconds and desserts and a not so rare case of thirds Bilbo and company were directed to the Office of the Thain, and the Study of Fortinbras II. 

   "Take a seat! All of you, have some tea if you like, or I can have some wine brought up. Or Ale, I suppose you might prefer," Fortinbras said as he walked in behind them and sat at the desk. "Ah, well maybe introductions first eh, Bilbo?" H said as no one moved.

   "Yes, yes of course," Bilbo said, looking back and forth between Fortinbras, the Dwarves, Hamfast, and the three Hobbits who had just followed his cousin into the study. Two Tooks and a Brandybuck by the look of them. Bilbo glanced at Dis who simply rose her eyebrow at him. Of course. He sighed and turned back to the Thain and the other three Hobbits who were now also standing across from him. "Bilbo Baggins, at the request of the Thain. These who join me are Lady Dis, Warrior Orla, Master Bombur, and Hamfast Gamgee." 

   "Well met each of you, well met indeed," Fortinbras said, standing long enough to bow and motion to the Hobbits next to him. "I am Fortinbras Took II, Thain of the Shire. The two lasses over there are June and Jolly Took, my nieces and the lad is Otto Brandybuck."

   "Well met," Dis said, causing Bilbo to jump slightly, and again when Bombur and Orla echoed her. He glanced over his shoulder to see Hamfast simply smile nervously. 

   "Now sit! I insist, and then we can get down to the meat and potatoes of the matter," Fortinbras said, waiting until the five of them were sitting in a loose semicircle in front of him, with Bilbo in the middle, of course. Fortinbras sat forward and leaned his elbows on his desk, fixing Bilbo with a pointed stare. "Now first you are going to tell me why I had to hear from the neighborhood gossip that not only had you a fauntling while out on that....adventure of yours, dear cousin, but that you were planning on leaving the Shire, for good this time, without saying not a thing to the rest of us! We're family aren't we? Bah, you always seem to forget you're as much a Took as a Baggins until someone reminds you! Well I'm reminding you. You're a Took, and I'm _The_ Took and I have a few questions for you before you go off galavanting around the countryside. Again!"

   "I'm a Took indeed, and just as much a Baggins. And the Head of-," Bilbo started, on the edge of his seat and his mouth twisted into a frown.

   "Oh hush you," Fortinbras interrupted with a grunt and a wave of his hand. "I know very well all that. I'm not talking to you now as The Thain or The Took. I'm asking you as your Eldest Cousin why I didn't receive any notice of a courtship, much less an Intent to Marry. I assume the lass is still fond of you if you're going all this way back to her again!"

   Bilbo flushed and bravely fought the urge to look over to Dis. From the sound she had just made he would not like what he saw.

   "There was a lot going on that kept... Bilrin's... mother and I from declaring an official Intent cousin," Bilbo said, his weight shifting on the chair as he tried not to entrench himself in a discussion of Dwarven identity and reproduction. 

   "Bilrin! Is that the faunt's name then, and no word sent to us for the Birth either!" Fortinbras' frown deepened as he sat back in his chair and put an unlit pipe to his mouth. There was no weed in it nor did he reach for any, simply seeming content to work it between his teeth.

   "Yes," Bilbo said, praying to the Valar he could get through this quickly without creating some political disaster between Erebor and the Shire.

   "Well surely you wish to declare Intent now? I assumed that was one reason these three came to fetch you? One of them speaks for your intended?"

   "I-," Bilbo couldn't help it this time, and glanced at Dis with wide eyes. He hadn't been planning anything of the sort until he had returned to Erebor and seen Thorin again for himself, but he new tradition demanded more involvement of family than that.

   "Yes, I speak for... the intended," Dis said, after returning Bilbo's gaze for a moment, "Although I confess no knowledge of Hobbit custom in this, Dwarves also have a formal courting. Especially when marrying into a Royal Family."

   Fortinbras' gaze snapped to Bilbo, who returned it squarely. They seemed locked in a battle of wills as Fortinbras desired an explanation and Bilbo desired to talk about _anything_ but. 

   "Then we reach the second matter we must discuss this evening," Fortinbras sat back in his chair and Bilbo noticed the three younger Hobbits perk up. "I must negotiate with the leader of the caravan you journey with to take these three with you. June and Jolly can act in my stead as Family for your courting."

   Bilbo felt his jaw drop open and his eyes snap to the three in question. They couldn't have had their Of Age party but that year, what business could they have in Erebor? Certainly Tooks and Brandybucks were known to journey a bit in their youth but the Road to Erebor was quite another thing. It was Hamfasts' quiet 'Ahh...' of understanding that had him take a closer look. June and Jolly were known in and around Tuckborough and Hobbiton as the heirs to the best apple orchard in the Shire, and Otto Brandybuck had been giving even Hamfast a run for his money with the products of his green thumb.

   "You are Called as well," Bilbo said, rubbing his eyes with both hands. It could be nothing else. Nothing but a Call would pull even the most adventurous of Hobbits from the Shire. (What that said about _himself_ he wasn't sure.)

   Fortinbras looked up sharply and Bilbo realised he had spoken louder than intended. Fortinbras looked pointedly at the Dwarves that sat on either side of him and Bilbo sighed.

   "I name them Family," Bilbo said and held up a hand, still massaging his forehead with the other. "I know we haven't even started Discussion but I declare them Family or else we will not get through this discussion in any productive way. Lady Dis is the leader you wish to speak to and I wager she is not going to take on three young Hobbits under her responsibility without good reason."

   "You are aware of what you do?" Fortinbras said quietly, sitting back in his chair, then chuckled softly around his pipe. "Of course you do, Bungo was your father after all and he was a Master of Custom if ever there was one. So be it. Under the eye of Hobbit law, witnessed by myself and four citizens of the Shire, Lady Dis, Warrior Orla, Master Bombur, you are now considered Bagginses, and Family."

   The air stilled. Bilbo steadily held his gaze ahead. He didn't want to look at the others. He knew what it would mean to them. What it would have meant to any member of the Company. 

   Though he couldn't help but smile when Bombur stood and lifted him in the air in a warm embrace. 

   "You know not what you do," Bombur said quietly.

   "Yes I do," Bilbo said clasping his friend on the arm as he was set back gently on hsi feet. Louder he continued, "I was traveling with you and the Company for many months, through many hardships and joys. You _are_ my family. Dis is the Aunt to my Son, and mother to two boys who are like nephews to me. And where Dis goes, Orla follows, anyone can see. Yes, courting or no half of my family is Dwarven."

   "Well said," Fortinbras said after Bilbo and Bombur said down again, Hamfast nudged his leg with his toe and Bilbo shrugged at him. He'd always been a bit off, why deny it now?

   "Well, then I suppose there's no harm in denying it. Yes the three of them are Called, and Mister Gamgee as well I would wager?"  
Bilbo nodded.

   "Am I now allowed to know why I am beseeched to add more tired feet and hungry bellies to my caravan?" Dis said pointedly, one eyebrow arched in such a perfect royal display that Bilbo easily imagined her in the halls of Erebor in its highest days.

   "Well-," Bilbo said, clearing his throat as her gaze turned to him. "I suppose the best way to explain it is sort of like a Craft to a Dwarf. Some feel like... it sings as they work. Or so I have told by various members of the Company. They are drawn to mining or smithing a particular metal or a certain type of gemstone?" 

   "That is a simple way to put it but aye, I gather Hobbits have some similar pull then?" Dis said.

   "Yes it's like that only with living things, plants and the occasional animal or such," Bilbo said, gesturing to Hamfast beside him, "As was said in Bag End, Hamfast is a Master at growing all things delightful to eat that come from a garden. However it isn't always just the growing of things that a Hobbit is Called to but a place. Some places in the world need a little extra...help to get back to rights, and sometimes a Hobbit is Called to help that place, although it hasn't happened so far from the Shire in....well..."

   "Not in living memory anyhow," Fortinbras said with a sigh, "And not so many at once."

   "And you believe these four are...Called to Erebor, or Dale, to help the land...?" Dis said, her face giving not a trace of her inner thoughts.

   "Hamfast was able to nearly perfectly describe to me the lands around the mountain from a dream he had, and I dare say these other three could likely do the same," Bilbo said.

   "This isn't something fooled about with. A Hobbit takes seriously anything that might lead them away from the Shire. So much of Ourselves is tied into the land here. It...hurts to leave its borders."

   Bilbo admitted the last with a wry smile, recalling the moment last year he had experienced it for himself. An ache had settled into him at that moment that did not start to ease until...well until Thorin had confessed to him the good news.

   "I see I have little choice then," Dis said, looking back at Fortinbras, "If these four mean to help the land become good for crops again their help is something I cannot afford to overlook. I will hear your offered terms."

   Bilbo tuned out most of the resulting conversation. He cared little for the details of trade at the moment. He was lost in thought and memory. The ache in his heart echoed the one that he felt when leaving the Shire, certainly, but he knew he, too, was Called elsewhere now.

**Author's Note:**

> I am shamelessly pulling a little Hobbits-Have-Earth-Magic inspiration from other fics, but I think I'm blending them into something my own.... I think most of it is fairly clear, without being stated outright, but I will of course answer any questions!


End file.
